Tragic sequel to home birth

By John Elder

12 April 2009 — 12:00am

ON MARCH 22, The Sunday Age published an article that included an interview with Janet Fraser, a leading home birth advocate.

Ms Fraser, in the early stages of labour at the time of the interview, revealed that at no time during the pregnancy had she consulted a health professional  and that she intended delivering the baby at home without an attending midwife.

"Free-birthing, plenty of women do it," she said.

The Australian College of Midwives, in an earlier interview, had criticised Ms Fraser for "recklessly" promoting free-birthing on the Joyous Birth website. Ms Fraser is the national convener of the Joyous Birth network.

During the interview, Ms Fraser said she didn't expect anything to happen for another couple of days, that nothing bad happened quickly in a labour and that there would be time to get to hospital if things went wrong.

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On March 27, Ms Fraser reportedly delivered a baby girl in a water birth.

An ambulance was called when the infant reportedly suffered a cardiac arrest and wasn't breathing.

Paramedics failed to revive the baby en route to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital at Camperdown in Sydney.

In the following days, there was a posting on the Joyous Birth website that announced the death, but this posting has since been removed. Ms Fraser's partner declined to speak with The Sunday Age, and an email to Ms Fraser was not responded to.

NSW police are investigating the death, and have said it was not clear whether the baby was stillborn or died after delivery. If a baby is stillborn, there is no autopsy. If a baby is alive at birth and dies soon after, it is considered a matter for the coroner.